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Category: UW Experts in the News

‘More than just a job’: Wisconsin dairy industry focused on workforce amid state’s labor shortage

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Leonard Polzin is dairy markets and policy specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. He told Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Central Time” that most dairy processors have ongoing recruitment efforts and continue to think about ways to compete with employers hiring from the same labor pool. But he said processors are also starting to pay more attention to advancements in technology and how automation could make jobs easier or replace them altogether.

“If they can take what once was done by 10 people and do it by one person through the advent of additional investment, that’s always a topic of discussion,” he said.

Supreme Court justice writes DEI education for attorneys would create ‘goose-stepping brigade’

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: University of Wisconsin Madison associate professor of political science and legal studies Howard Schweber said given the current state of politics, it’s not surprising that the state’s high court denied the DEI education request. But he called Bradley’s comments shocking.

“Whatever tattered shreds of civility were left within the legal profession have surely vanished when you have a Supreme Court justice saying about her own state’s bar that they are effectively in a conspiracy to take over America and to make an explicit Nazi reference in doing so,” Schweber said.

Federal agriculture officials declare drought disaster in southern Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Josh Kamps is a crops and soils educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in the southwestern region. He said crop conditions vary greatly across his area, even from farm to farm.

Kamps said producers who were able to plant early in the season got enough rain to get crops started, allowing the plants to grow deeper roots that tapped into water farther below the surface as soils dried out.

“We have areas where crops were planted a little bit later, maybe toward the end of May,” he said. “Those crops are really struggling. These last couple of rain showers this week are going to definitely help.”

‘Here & Now’ Highlights: Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Alder Russell Stamper II, Howard Schweber

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PBS Wisconsin

Here’s what guests on the July 14, 2023 episode said about a 2% sales tax in the city of Milwaukee that comes with specific policy conditions and a surprising circuit court ruling in the Wisconsin abortion statutes lawsuit.

Includes interview with Howard Schweber, professor emeritus of political science at the UW-Madison and affiliated faculty at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Survey: Just under half of Wisconsin businesses plan to hire additional employees over the next six months

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Steven Deller, professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said businesses remain in “wait and see mode,” as they’ve dealt with economic uncertainty since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates more than a year ago.

“Six months ago, it was like, the Fed is raising interest rates, the sky is falling, the leading economic indicators are all pointing towards recession,” Deller said. “Now, people are going, ‘Well, wait a minute, the sky is not falling.'”

Menzie Chinn, a professor of public affairs and economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Goldman Sachs’ prediction might be a little rosier than that of most economists. He said economists are anticipating an economic slowdown in the latter half of 2023 or early 2024.

“While people think the chances of a recession are receding, I think the average forecaster still sees a recession coming,” Chinn said. “That being said, I think most of them also think it would be a mild recession.”

4 Numbers To Watch For As The Climate Crisis Heats Up

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Forbes

The fourth number to keep an eye on is any metric of smoke. The U.S. has been in a relative lull, but more smoke is expected this weekend from wildfires in Canada. As of Friday, it was already evident on weather satellite imagery. The tweet below from the University of Wisconsin-Madison CIMSS site provides great perspecive on current and near-future status of vertically integrated smoke.

Second Alzheimer’s drug to slow disease’s progression may be approved in the US this year

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CBS News

“The modest benefits would likely not be questioned by patients, clinicians, or payers, if amyloid antibodies were low risk, inexpensive and simple to administer,” wrote UCSF’s Dr. Eric Widera, SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Dr. Sharon Brangman and the University of Wisconsin’s Dr. Nathaniel Chin. “However, they are none of these.”

Long-unfunded Wisconsin State Climatology Office boosted by USDA grant

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Wisconsin Public Radio

For the first time in a decade, the Wisconsin State Climatology Office is receiving government funding. A USDA grant will focus the office on rural needs, particularly those of farmers. We talk to Steve Vavrus, the Wisconsin State Climatologist and a senior scientist for the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Center for Climatic Research at UW-Madison, about this and funding for a statewide network of weather stations.

Rockabetty’s is closing as some Madison salons struggle with hiring, rising rents

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Wisconsin State Journal

That could have to do with workers in service industries gravitating toward jobs that were more stable during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Nancy Wong, UW-Madison professor of consumer science.

“Perhaps these industries also do not pay as well,” she said, and salon owners are faced with the expense of raising wages and offering regular hours. That cost can be passed on to customers.

Six Right-Wing Activists Filed 89,000 Georgia Voter Roll Challenges

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ProPublica

“If all these challengers are finding is inconsequential errors that do not affect election results on the whole, but they’re placing real and harmful burdens on voters, then you have to wonder why they’re really doing this,” said Derek Clinger, a senior staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. “It’s doing more harm than good.”

New research and therapy development at UW Carbone Cancer Center

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Wisconsin Public Radio

According to Newsweek, the UW Carbone Cancer Center is listed as the top cancer hospital in Wisconsin for 2023. We learn about the hospital’s latest work, including prostate MRI’s and proton therapy. Interview with Dr. Joshua Lang, associate director of translational research, and Dr. Nataliya Uboha, an oncologist and faculty leader for Cancer Therapy Discovery & Development, both at the UW Carbone Cancer Center.

Earth entering a new, human-caused, geologic age

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Wisconsin Public Radio

A panel of scientists are saying the planet is entering a new geologic epoch for the first time in civilization’s history: the Anthropocene. It’s also the first era sparked by humanity’s planetary impact. We talk with Elizabeth Hennessy, a UW-Madison Environmental Studies associate professor, about the effects of humanity on the planet. 

Experts say only far northern Wisconsin has a chance to see the northern lights this week

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Jim Lattis, director of University of Wisconsin’s Space Place, said auroras are caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with gasses like nitrogen in the Earth’s atmosphere. He said a lot of things have to go right for that to happen.

“There are solar flares popping off on the sun every other day or daily these days, but those flares have to emit something that then crosses an awful lot of space between us and the sun, and then actually interacts with the earth,” he said.

Summer nights are getting warmer in Wisconsin. Here’s why that’s a problem.

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Warmer nights can be especially concerning because the body no longer has a chance to cool down, said Elizabeth Berg, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the effect of heat in urban environments.

“If temperatures stay above a certain threshold overnight, that’s when it’s … constant stress on your system,” she said. “And that’s when things get dangerous.”

Wisconsin schools that went remote for longer saw expanded gaps in graduation rates

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Wisconsin schools that had a longer period of virtual or hybrid learning during the pandemic saw graduation rates rise among wealthier students and fall among those at an economic disadvantage, a new study found.

The study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published in the journal Educational Researcher, analyzed data from 429 public high schools in the state during the 2020-21 school year and two years before then.

Some sweet corn crops worst in 40 years as drought leaves farms in dire need of rain

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Wisconsin State Journal

The dry conditions come as corn is nearing its pollination phase, a critical six- to eight-day period that will help determine fall yields, said Joe Lauer, an agronomist at UW-Madison and an expert in corn research.

“It’s really a pretty critical time for just getting the kernel developing,” said Lauer, who has 14 sites around the state that hold 13,000 plots of more than 400 types of corn hybrids. “We need rain terribly. It’s just incredibly dry at this point. The corn actually looks pretty good yet, but we’re entering a critical phase.”

How the history of pharmacy resonates today

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Wisconsin Public Radio

More than 80 years ago, the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy was founded at UW-Madison. Today, the organization supports pharmacy education around the country. We speak with Lucas Richert, the institute director, and Hannah Rose Swan, the archivist at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, on how the history of pharmaceuticals resonates today.

With full plants, dairy industry experts say reports of milk dumping are unsurprising amid spring flush

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Chuck Nicholson, agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it’s not unusual to see some milk dumping in late spring and early summer.

“We tend to see a peak in the production of milk per cow around this time of year,” he said. “That’s based on biology of the cow and the timing of what the climate looks like to make that milk.”

Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers on the front lines of a warming Earth

Posted on
LA Times

Climate change makes extreme heat more likely and more intense. Farm work is particularly dangerous because workers raise their internal body temperature by moving, lifting and walking at the same time they’re exposed to high heat and humidity, said Dr. Jonathan Patz, chair of health and the environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Supreme Court rejected student loan forgiveness—what does that mean for borrowers?

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Last week, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s attempt to cancel or reduce student loan debt. Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison and expert on higher education finance, joins us to talk about what the decision means for millions of borrowers.

Extreme drought threatens Wisconsin corn crop

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Wisconsin Public Radio

July is a key month for corn pollination, making the next few weeks all the more critical for the crop. That’s according to Jason Otkin, an associate research professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in drought.

“We’re entering a really important time of the year now for the corn crop — pollination in July is so critical. So if we stay dry, and if we get really unlucky and have a big heat wave, that’s going to do quite the number on the corn crop,” he told “The Morning Show.”

UW-led team of astrophysicists identifies invisible ‘ghost particles’ in Milky Way using AI

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Astrophysicists have long predicted that the Milky Way is a source of ghostly particles called neutrinos, but haven’t been able to detect them. Until now.

In a new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a massive detector at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory finally caught a glimpse of high-energy neutrinos being emitted from within the Milky Way.

Greece migrant boat disaster: Mapping a tragedy on coast guard’s watch

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Washington Post

Till Wagner, an assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Navid Constantinou, a physical oceanography research fellow at the Australian National University and Ian Eisenman, a professor of climate science and physical oceanography at the University of California at San Diego, used weather and ocean current data obtained from MarineTraffic to estimate the drift velocity using a method described in a 2022 study.

‘Institutionally refusing to accept science’: Wisconsin DNR at center of lawsuit against beaver management program

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Wisconsin Public Radio

David Drake, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and Extension wildlife specialist, teaches a class on wildlife damage management. He said that the beaver population is not at risk of being endangered or threatened. Rather, he said, beavers, which are a rodent species like mice or rats, breed regularly.

“The beaver population is healthy in the state of Wisconsin, as it is throughout the United States. And I think the management is justified and I think it’s responsible and I think it’s ethical and professional,” Drake said.

Letting 14-year-olds serve alcohol not a big change, legislators say

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The Capital Times

Timothy Smeeding, a labor economist and social welfare policy analyst at the University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs, said the bill could bring up concerns if young people actually had to serve alcohol at the bar. However, he said that if they’re already serving food at a restaurant, allowing them to carry alcohol shouldn’t make a big difference.

Supreme Court strikes down Biden administrations’ student loan forgiveness plan

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Nicholas Hillman is the director of the Student Success Through Applied Research lab at UW-Madison. He said there were thousands of borrowers behind on payments when they were suspended in March 2020.

“So during this pause, we’ve had kind of an artificial view of the significance of student loan repayment,” Hillman said. “And now we’re going to turn the system back on here in a few months, and we’re going to have the same exact problems all over again.”

Wisconsin home prices have more than doubled over the last decade

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Wisconsin Public Radio

The median home price in Wisconsin has more than doubled over the last decade, as supply has failed to keep up with demand after homebuilding slowed during the Great Recession. That’s according to new data from the Wisconsin Realtors Association, or WRA, and a new report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Steven Deller, professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, authored the report. He said many were hoping to see downward pressure on prices in response to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, but that hasn’t happened yet. Deller said high mortgage rates have had a modest effect on demand for homes, but a greater influence on those who currently own a home to postpone older couples from downsizing or young families upsizing, keeping some homes off the market.

“The normal churn in the housing market, the new supply of housing or the increase of existing homes going on the market is actually dropping a little bit more than the decline in demand,” he said.

Midwest states, often billed as climate havens, suffer summer of smoke, drought, heat

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“When we think of both climate and air quality, we often think of it as something that happens to other people,” said Tracey Holloway, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “As climate changes, it’s changing everything for everyone.”

A young girl’s participation in Madison’s Naked Bike Ride didn’t violate state law, police say. Here’s why.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Anuj Desai, a University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor who specializes in issues including free speech and statutory interpretation, agreed that those laws probably don’t apply to organizers or people responsible for children participating in the Naked Bike Ride.

“If the whole point (of the Naked Bike Ride) is that bodies are not sexual items, it’s not likely to satisfy a legal standard that requires it to be appealing to the prurient interest of children,” Desai said.

Meagan Wolfe finds herself back where she started as elections chief: In the middle of a firestorm

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“It is remarkable how hard-nosed tactics have become in Wisconsin politics,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Burden said, under state law, “It seems to me that the commission took no action on Wolfe as administrator.”

Nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites will be impacted by rejected student loan forgiveness

Posted on
NBC-15

“The median loan payment in Wisconsin is $152 a month. So, it kind of gives a little bit of a sense of how big this is,” Nick Hillman, Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis at UW-Madison said. “So, what a quarter, one in four people you see walking down the street are now gonna have to pay probably about 150 a month that they haven’t been paying for the past few years.”

Madison project helps Black women build financial literacy, wealth

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Wisconsin State Journal

“As research extensively documents, racial disparities in wealth accumulation are systemic, of which historic public policies and private practices sustain,” said Melody Harvey, UW-Madison assistant professor of consumer science in the School of Human Ecology.

Black communities are likely to be what Harvey called “banking deserts,” meaning there are few, if any, mainstream financial institutions. They are also more likely to have concentrations of high-cost alternative financial services such as payday and auto title lenders, Harvey explained, asking “Where does one begin when even the most basic of financial services may not be readily available and accessible?”

A.I. Is Coming for Mathematics, Too

Posted on
The New York Times

These days there is no shortage of gadgetry for optimizing our lives — diet, sleep, exercise. “We like to attach stuff to ourselves to make it a little easier to get things right,” Jordan Ellenberg, a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said during a workshop break. A.I. gadgetry might do the same for mathematics, he added: “It’s very clear that the question is, What can machines do for us, not what will machines do to us.”

The air over Madison is clearing, but does the future hold more air quality concerns?

Posted on
Channel 3000

Dr. Tracey Holloway, a professor at UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, says we likely haven’t seen the last of smoky skies from Canada this year.

“Since usually we have more smoke in July and August, where we’re just getting into that part of the year, it would not be surprising to have more smoky days ahead,” Dr. Holloway said.

‘Extraordinarily ambiguous standard:’ SCOTUS decision on affirmative action leaves many with questions

Posted on
NBC-15

Professor of Political Science Emeritus at UW-Madison Howard Schweber referred to Thursday’s decision as a ‘sweeping giant statement principle.’ But he says an exception is equally notable.

“The giant loophole comes quite close to the end of the opinion when Chief Justice Roberts says ‘of course, a college or university may still continue race as it applies to a particular student’s individual life story described in their application essay.’ So what really happened here is a shift from one way to think about it is a shift from race consciousness in admissions to race consciousness in application,” Dr. Schweber said.

Neutrinos from the Milky Way finally detected

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Popular Science

In 2013, IceCube detected the first cosmic neutrinos. In the years since, they’ve been able to narrow neutrino sources down to individual galaxies. “We have been detecting extragalactic neutrinos for 10 years now,” says Francis Halzen, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin and a member of the IceCube collaboration.